"So I took the egg into the Prefects' bathroom using my cloak and the map to figure out the clue with Cedric's tip."
"You said you'd already worked out that egg clue!" said Hermione indignantly, though she was secretly glad: Cedric had been the one to give Harry the tip to listen to the egg underwater so she wouldn't have to bring Viktor into it.
"Keep your voice down," Harry said crossly. "I just need to - sort of fine-tune it, all right?"
Hermione, Ron, and Harry were sitting at the very back of the Charms classroom with a table to themselves. They were supposed to be practising the opposite of the Summoning Charm today - the Banishing Charm. Owing to the potential for nasty accidents when objects kept flying across the room, Professor Flitwick had given each student a stack of cushions to practise, the theory being that these wouldn't hurt anyone if they went off target. It was a good theory, but it wasn't working very well. Neville's aim was so poor that he kept accidentally sending much heavier things flying across the room – Professor Flitwick, for instance.
This class was an ideal cover for a private conversation, as everyone was having far too much fun to pay them any attention.
"Just forget the egg for a minute, all right?" Harry hissed as Professor Flitwick went whizzing resignedly past them, landing on top of a large cabinet. "I'm trying to tell you about Snape and Moody."
"Snape and Moody were in the Prefects' bathroom?" Ron asked.
"No!" whispered Harry. "Just Moaning Myrtle. I ran into Snape and Moody after I was in the bathroom with the egg."
"What, they were just standing around in the corridor waiting for you to be done with your bath?" Ron asked.
"Are you confunded?" Harry hissed. "Let me tell the story, ok? So I went to leave the bathroom, checked the map, and saw that Bartemius Crouch was in Snape's office. So I went to go investigate-"
"Of course you did," Hermione said.
"Can I please just tell the story!?" Harry yelled, getting a look from a few other students and Professor Flitwick. "Sorry," Harry murmured, dropping his voice back to a whisper. "So I went to investigate, but I stepped on the trick step and got stuck. Worse yet, I dropped the map and the egg, which went rattling down the stairs. Of course, that got the attention of Snape and Moody. They started bickering back and forth about how Moody searched Snape's office… and then Snape saw the egg and map and said he knew I was there under my cloak. Moody could see me, of course, but scared off Snape. Snape finally left, and then Moody asked me if I needed help with the egg."
"Snape said Moody's searched his office as well?" Ron whispered, his eyes alight with interest as he Banished a cushion with a sweep of his wand (it soared into the air and knocked Parvati's hat off). "What ... d'you reckon Moody's here to keep an eye on Snape as well as Karkaroff?"
"Well, I dunno if that's what Dumbledore asked him to do, but he's doing it," said Harry, waving his wand without paying much attention so that his cushion did an odd sort of belly flop off the desk. "Moody said Dumbledore only lets Snape stay here because he's giving him a second chance or something …"
"What?" said Ron, his eyes widening, his next cushion spinning high into the air, ricocheting off the chandelier and dropping heavily onto Flitwick's desk. "Harry ... maybe Moody thinks Snape put your name in the Goblet of Fire!"
"Oh, Ron," said Hermione, shaking her head sceptically. "We thought Snape was trying to kill Harry before, and it turned out he was saving Harry's life, remember?"
She Banished a cushion, and it flew across the room and landed in the box they were all supposed to be aiming at.
"I don't care what Moody says," Hermione went on, "Dumbledore's not stupid. He was right to trust Hagrid and Professor Lupin, even though loads of people wouldn't have given them jobs, so why shouldn't he be right about Snape, even if Snape is a bit –"
"– evil," said Ron promptly. "Come on, Hermione, why are all these Dark-wizard-catchers searching his office, then?"
"Why has Mr Crouch been pretending to be ill?" said Hermione, ignoring Ron. "It's a bit funny, isn't it, that he can't manage to come to the Yule Ball, but he can get up here in the middle of the night when he wants to?"
"You just don't like Crouch because of that elf, Winky," said Ron, sending a cushion soaring into the window.
"You just want to think Snape's up to something," said Hermione, sending her cushion zooming neatly into the box.
"I just want to know what Snape did with his first chance if he's on his second one," said Harry grimly, and his cushion flew straight across the room and landed neatly on top of Hermione's.
The trio set to work on how Harry could survive underwater for an hour on the twenty-fourth of February. While she desperately wanted to ask Viktor what he was doing, she had asked enough of him already. She wasn't nearly as worried about Viktor as she was about Harry- Viktor had a much better grasp on magic and self than Harry did.
Ron quite liked the idea of using the Summoning Charm again – Harry had explained about aqualungs (much to Hermione's surprise), and Ron couldn't see why Harry shouldn't Summon one from the nearest Muggle town. Hermione squashed this plan by pointing out that, in the unlikely event that Harry managed to learn how to operate an aqualung within the set limit of an hour, he was sure to be disqualified for breaking the International Code of Wizarding Secrecy – it was too much to hope that no Muggles would spot an aqualung zooming across the countryside to Hogwarts.
"Of course, the ideal solution would be for you to Transfigure yourself into a submarine or something," she said. "If only we'd done human Transfiguration already! But I don't think we start that until sixth year, and it can go badly wrong if you don't know what you're doing."
"Yeah, I don't fancy walking around with a periscope sticking out of my head," said Harry. "I s'pose I could always attack someone in front of Moody. He might do it for me."
"I don't think he'd let you choose what you wanted to be turned into, though," said Hermione thoughtfully. "No, I think your best chance is some sort of charm."
"I'm not really a great swimmer either," Harry said sadly. "The Dursleys never took me to the pool or seaside. I'd sometimes pretend in the bathtub, though.
"One problem at a time," Hermione said swiftly, trying not to think about how sad his statement was. The Dursleys seemed like absolutely despicable people.
Hermione poured over their Charms textbook, and every other book on charms she could find in the library. There were too many texts on charms to rifle through - they needed a plan to start the research process.
Hermione's first idea was to cast the repelling charm similar to the one she did for Harry during the Quidditch match where it was pouring down rain, but when they dunked Harry's charmed head in a bucket of water (Ron's idea), Harry still couldn't breathe. His face was remarkably dry, however.
That led Harry to start searching for a spell that would enable a human to survive without oxygen, but they came up short. They had even used a letter from Professor McGonagall to search in the Restricted Section to no avail.
Hermione went back to the drawing board. The idea of transfiguring into a submarine was still lingering in her mind. Perhaps if she could fashion a hardened shell around Harry's face, similar to a deep sea diver helmet, it would keep enough air for him to breathe… perhaps "Fianto Duri" would work? However, a quick calculation on Hermione's part realised that Harry's expulsion of carbon dioxide as he exhaled would kill him within the hour's time limit.
However, the idea of the diver's helmet started Hermione down another path. Was there a way to elongate a tube or snorkel of sorts to allow Harry to dive down to the depths of the lake and still breathe from the surface? Capacious Extremis, the Extension Charm, seemed like a possible fit, but someone would have to constantly extend the snorkel as Harry dove, which was a huge unknown. What if Hermione wasn't close enough to do it? Plus, would that be technically cheating if Hermione helped a champion?
Next, Hermione looked into the Windy Spell (Ventus). The charm was supposed to shoot a jet of strong, spiralling wind from the tip of the wand, but, as demonstrated in the bucket, the wind was too strong and fast for Harry to breathe. Instead, Harry said it felt similar to what he would think being blown up like a balloon would feel.
Feeling even more desperate, Hermione started searching for some of the Charms books that dealt with healing. The "Anapneo" Charm looked slightly promising - it was supposed to clear the target's airway if they were choking on something. Harry would be choking on water, wouldn't he? Unfortunately, the bucket test proved the charm yet another dud (Harry stopped physically choking on the water, but it was still freely entering his lungs).
"This is hopeless," Harry said, slamming his book down with only three days left to go on the task. "I'm going to die."
"You're not going to die," Hermione said. "They won't let you die, Harry."
"You sure about that?" Harry asked.
To be honest, Hermione was not, in fact, sure they wouldn't just let him die, but she didn't want to tell Harry that.
The next morning, Hermione noticed Harry wasn't eating anything at breakfast. Just as she was about to force him to eat some toast at least, a brown owl swooped down with a letter for Harry. It had to have been Sirius' reply.
Harry pulled off the parchment, unrolled it, and Hermione, Harry, and Ron looked to see what it read:
Send date of next Hogsmeade weekend by return owl.
Harry turned the parchment over to see if there was any more written, but, to their surprise, it was blank.
"Weekend after next," whispered Hermione. "Here - take my quill and send this owl back straight away."
Harry scribbled the dates down on the back of Sirius' letter, tied it back onto the brown owl's leg, and watched it take flight again.
"What's he want to know about the next Hogsmeade weekend for?" said Ron.
"Dunno," said Harry. "Come on - Care of Magical Creatures."
Whether Hagrid was trying to make up for the Blast-Ended Skrewts, or because there were now only two Skrewts left, or because he was trying to prove he could do anything that Professor Grubbly-Plank could, he had been continuing her lessons on unicorns ever since he'd returned to work. It turned out that Hagrid knew quite as much about unicorns as he did about monsters, though it was clear that he found their lack of poisonous fangs disappointing. Nonetheless, Hermione appreciated the lessons lately and hoped the trend would continue. It'd be the best of both worlds - Hagrid teaching well thought out lessons.
Today he had managed to capture two unicorn foals. Unlike full-grown unicorns, they were pure gold. Parvati and Lavender went into transports of delight at the sight of them, and even Pansy Parkinson had to work hard to conceal how much she liked them.
"Easier ter spot than the adults," Hagrid told the class. "They turn silver when they're abou' two years old, an' they grow horns at aroun' four. Don' go pure white 'til they're full-grown, round about seven. They're a bit more trustin' when they're babies ... don' mind boys so much ... c'mon, move in a bit, yeh can pat 'em if yeh want ... give 'em a few o' these sugar lumps."
Most of the boys in the class tried to clammer to the front of the line since they weren't able to pet the adult unicorn with Professor Grubbly-Plank. Hermione and the other girls begrudgingly complied and let them take their turn, though she noticed that Harry was off to the side, talking with Hagrid. She tried to listen in to their conversation.
"Harry," Hagrid was saying, "I'd've bin worried before I saw yeh take on tha' Horntail, but I know now yeh can do anythin' yeh set yer mind ter. I'm not worried at all. Yeh're goin' ter be fine. Got yer clue worked out, haven' yeh?"
Harry nodded, but Hermione could tell he was just placating Hagrid.
"Yeh're goin' ter win," Hagrid said. "I know it. I can feel it. Yeh're goin' ter win, Harry."
Hermione watched Harry's shoulders sink as soon as Hagrid walked away.
The day before the second task was a very stressful one. Hermione, Ron, and Harry were still trying desperately to think of something that would work, but time was running out. Hermione wanted to keep looking, but she also wanted to wish Viktor good luck as well. It was very complicated.
Thankfully, around lunchtime, Harry abruptly got up and announced he was going to take a shower to relax and walked off without another word. Hermione and Ron looked at each other, and both shrugged.
"Guess we're taking a break," said Ron. "I'm starving. Wanna go grab lunch with me?"
"I can't, sorry," Hermione said, hoping Ron would be too hungry to ask her to elaborate.
"Ok, no worries," Ron said, standing up. "See you later then."
Thinking that was way too easy, Hermione waited a few minutes after both boys left just in case they came back, but they seemed to be gone. She packed her bag and made her way out of the castle towards the lake. As she guessed, Viktor was swimming laps. He had been swimming daily as the second task grew closer.
In an attempt to not blatantly go against Karkaroff's wishes for Viktor to stay away from any Hogwarts students, Hermione and Viktor developed a plan. If he was swimming and she wanted to see him, she'd "go for a walk" around the lake and shoot the whistling charm, Sibilious Impenetrabilis, into the water, which Viktor would hear, and know to come up to meet her.
Hermione didn't have to wait for long. Within a few minutes, Viktor was half jogging to the treeline where Hermione was waiting. He greeted her with a warm kiss, even though he had just been swimming in an iced-over lake in his skivvies.
"How are you always so warm?" Hermione giggled.
"It is much colder at Durmstrang," Viktor said. "This like mild autumn veather."
"I just wanted to make sure I saw you before the second task," Hermione said, giving his hand a squeeze. "To wish you luck."
"I need no luck," he said, "but I vill still take good luck kiss from my smartest girl."
Hermione leaned up on her tiptoes to comply. A few moments later, she broke off the kiss. "So what do you think the merpeople will have of yours?"
"I am not sure," Viktor said. "I do not have many important items. Maybe Vorld Cup Snitch? I do not know. Only important thing to me is you."
"Do you have any family heirlooms or anything of the sort?" Hermione asked, realising suddenly that they had never actually talked about their family lives.
Viktor paused to think for a moment and then reached into his coat, bringing out the pocket watch he had during the Yule Ball. "I do have vatch from my grandfather."
"It's beautiful," she said, looking at the intricate carvings on the outside. "When did he give it to you? When you were seventeen?" She knew it was customary for wizards to receive watches in the Wizarding World when they turned of age.
"No," said Viktor. "I never met him. He vas killed by Gellert Grindelvald before I vas born."
"Oh, I am so sorry," Hermione said, making a mental note to look up Gellert Grindelwald when the second task was over. "That's horrible."
"Yes. That is vhy I vill never embrace the dark arts like some at Durmstrang. But enough about that. Vill you be cheering for me and Harry tomorrow?"
"Of course!" Hermione said, relieved he seemed to understand her relationship with Harry.
"Good. I vill do vell knowing you are there," Viktor said. "But, I am sorry, I must go and practise for tomorrow. I see you after I vin, yes?"
Hermione nodded, and the pair kissed goodbye. She watched as Viktor headed back to the Durmstrang ship before making her way back to the castle. Hermione grabbed a sandwich from the great hall and walked back to the library for some more searching with the boys.
They had made absolutely no headway that afternoon and were feeling desperate as evening approached.
"I don't reckon it can be done," said Ron's voice flatly from the other side of the table behind stacks of books. "There's nothing. Nothing. Closest was that thing to dry up puddles and ponds, that Drought Charm, but that was nowhere near powerful enough to drain the lake."
"There must be something," Hermione muttered, trying to hold on to a tiny shred of hope. She moved a candle closer to her. Her eyes were so tired she was poring over the tiny print of Olde and Forgotten Bewitchments and Charmes with her nose about an inch from the page. "They'd never have set a task that was undoable." Plus, she knew for a fact that Viktor had a plan.
"They have," said Ron. "Harry, just go down to the lake tomorrow, right? Stick your head in, yell at the merpeople to give back whatever they've nicked and see if they chuck it out. Best you can do, mate."
"There's a way of doing it!" Hermione said crossly, ignoring the ball of anxiety bobbing up and down in her chest. "There just has to be!"
She felt like she was taking the library's lack of helpful information on the subject as a personal insult; it had never failed her before.
"I know what I should have done," said Harry, resting, face down, on Saucy Tricks for Tricky Sorts. "I should've learnt to be an Animagus like Sirius."
"Yeah, you could've turned into a goldfish any time you wanted!" said Ron.
"Or a frog," yawned Harry. He looked exhausted, but that was no reason to dismiss reality completely.
"It takes years to become an Animagus, and then you have to register yourself and everything," said Hermione, squinting down the index of Weird Wizarding Dilemmas and Their Solutions. "Professor McGonagall told us, remember? You've got to register yourself with the Improper Use of Magic Office; what animal you become, and your markings, so you can't abuse it."
"Hermione, I was joking," said Harry wearily. "I know I haven't got a chance of turning into a frog by tomorrow morning…"
"Oh, this is no use," Hermione said, snapping Weird Wizarding Dilemmas shut. "Who on earth wants to make their nose hair grow into ringlets?"
"I wouldn't mind," said Fred Weasley's voice. "Be a talking point, wouldn't it?"
Hermione, Ron, and Harry looked up. Fred and George had just emerged from behind some bookshelves.
"What're you two doing here?" Ron asked.
"Looking for you," said George. "McGonagall wants you, Ron. And you, Hermione."
"Why?" said Hermione, looking surprised. She could feel her anxiety skyrocket. Did she forget a homework assignment? Did she miss a lesson? Hermione gasped. Were they in trouble for helping Harry?
"Dunno... she was looking a bit grim, though," said Fred.
"We're supposed to take you down to her office," said George.
Ron and Hermione stared at Harry, knowing he'd have no hope on his own.
"We'll meet you back in the common room," Hermione told Harry as she got up to go with Ron. "Bring as many of these books as you can, OK?"
"Right," said Harry uneasily.
Hermione and Ron followed the twins down the corridor towards Professor McGonagall's office. She could tell Ron had absolutely no idea why they were being called in either, though the look on his face was one of pure anxiety. Ron had never clicked with Professor McGonagall, and most of his interactions with her had been her telling him off.
"So what did you two do?" Fred asked.
"Get caught snogging in the hall?" George said.
"No!" Hermione and Ron said together.
"Somehow, I don't believe that," said Fred.
"Sod off," Ron said.
Hermione stayed silent. The last thing she wanted to do was get into a conversation about who was snogging whom with Ron Weasley and his twin brothers. It would not work out well for her.
"Well, this is where we leave you," George said as they neared Professor McGonagall's closed office door.
"And don't forget, when Professor McGonagall is yelling at you…" Fred started.
"...she's just caring loudly," George finished.
"Good night…"
"And good luck."
The twins turned in unison and strolled down the hallway.
Hermione looked at Ron, who gulped almost comically. "What do you reckon she's going to yell at us for?"
"Maybe helping Harry with the task?" Hermione answered, her voice shaking.
"That's what I was thinking," Ron said.
"You're both wrong," Professor McGonagall's voice called from inside her office. "If you two would please hurry up, we're all waiting for you."
Hermione twisted the doorknob, and she and Ron stepped into the small room. They were both surprised to see Cho Chang and a younger girl in Beauxbaton's uniforms waiting in the room, as well. Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall were standing behind the desk. Madame Maxime and Headmaster Karkaroff were off to the side near the window. Despite it being a small office they all fit comfortably, but Hermione could tell no one could be described as actually being "comfortable." She noted that Headmaster Karkaroff looked livid, and was glaring at her for some reason. Dumbledore's voice pulled Hermione's attention away from Karkaroff and back to the Hogwarts delegation.
"Thank you for joining us, Ms Granger and Mr Weasley," Professor Dumbledore said. "Now that the four of you are here, I'd like to thank you all for being such supportive friends and allies to our champions. As you probably may know, tomorrow morning is the second task of the Triwizard Tournament. Each of the champions was given a clue at the end of the first task. This clue came in the form of a Golden Egg, which only would reveal its secrets underwater. I happen to have one here for you all to listen to since I know none of you have been told what the hint is by the champions." Dumbledore gave a knowing wink.
He placed the golden egg on Professor McGonagall's desk and pulled out his wand. With a simple flick of his wrist (as if he was flicking a fly), his silent spell suspended the egg in a bubble of water. The egg opened with another sweep of his wand, and a melodious voice rippled through the room.
Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you're searching ponder this;
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we took,
But past an hour, the prospect's black,
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.
Professor Dumbledore swished his wand once more, and the egg closed and went silent again. Hermione was starting to put it all together and, with a frightening thought, remembered Finnegan's letter. Furthermore, in looking at the other three students in the office, Hermione realised she was probably there because of Viktor, not Harry. Thankfully, Ron hadn't figured that out yet, but it was only a matter of time. Hermione had to admit that she was more worried about Ron's reaction to her being the thing Viktor would miss the most than potentially dying at the bottom of the Lake.
"As you have just heard, our champions must enter the Black Lake and recover something significant to them… or, in this case, someone. As I mentioned when Ms Granger and Mr Weasley arrived, you all have been invaluable friends and confidants to the four champions. We are quite certain our champions would each do whatever it took to save you from the depths of the Black Lake."
"You mean to tell us you are going to let us get kidnapped by merpeople, taken underwater, and have to rely on someone to rescue us in an hour or less or else we - what did it say - won't come back?" Ron blurted out. "You're barking!"
"On the contrary, Mr Weasley," Professor Dumbledore said. "That's just what we want the champions to believe. In reality, you all will be quite safe. We are just testing their courage, resolve, and loyalty with this second task."
"With all due respect, sir," Cho Chang said quietly, "but how do you expect us to be safe under the water for an hour with no oxygen, a giant squid, merpeople, and Merlin knows what else?"
Hermione had to admit she was thinking the exact same thing. Fleur's little sister, Gabrielle, looked like she was thinking about it as well. She looked white as a ghost and was shaking. Hermione went over and put an arm around her. She wasn't much older than Jillian and was probably terrified. It also put a bit of distance between her and Ron for when he finally worked out who she was there for.
"Professor Dumbledore will be placing you all under an enchanted sleep," Professor McGonagall explained. "Which will only wear off when you reach the lake's surface. You won't even know you are underwater."
"But being asleep isn't gonna do much when the giant squid tears me apart limb by limb," Ron said.
"I, along with the Department of Magical Games and Sports, have come to an agreement with the Merpeople and other creatures of the lake in which you four will be left unharmed for the duration of the task."
"And if Harry doesn't rescue us after an hour?" said Ron defiantly, pointing to himself and Hermione. Hermione winced.
"You will not be harmed by any creature in the lake," Professor Dumbledore repeated calmly.
"You, of course, can refuse to participate, Mr Weasley," Professor McGonagall said. "You, unlike the champions, have not entered into any sort of contract."
"If they refuse, their champion forfeits," growled Karkaroff from the corner.
"We will discuss that if that is, indeed, the case," Professor Dumbledore said patiently. "So, what say you four?"
"Well, what about Krum? Is he forfeiting?" Ron asked. Hermione's heart dropped. "He doesn't have anyone to rescue."
"Mr Krum will be saving Ms Granger," Professor McGonagall said with pursed lips.
Ron's head whipped around to look at Hermione, but she averted her eyes. She could feel her cheeks grow hot, and a panic attack that was growing larger and larger.
"Oh, I see," Ron said in a small, defeated voice.
That wasn't the reaction she had anticipated. However, it seemed to be worse somehow. Hermione looked up at Ron and held his gaze for a moment. She hoped he understood how sorry she was with just that glance.
Gabrielle seemed to understand the tension and, thankfully, broke the silence. "I will participate," she said bravely.
"So will I," Cho said.
"I'm in," Ron said softly.
"Me too," Hermione said quietly, looking back to the floor.
"That settles it," Dumbledore said. "Thank you all for assisting in this matter and for trusting me to ensure you remain safe. Now, if you will all lay down on the cushions over there, we can begin."
The four students shuffled over to the cushions to lay down. To Hermione's surprise, Ron had lain down next to her. He grabbed her hand and earnestly whispered "Good luck! And don't be scared- Dumbledore may be bloody barmy, but he won't let anything happen to us."
"Thank you," Hermione said, smiling and squeezing his hand back. "I needed that."
Ron grinned. "Besides, this is probably gonna be the best sleep of our lives, so we may as well enjoy it!"
And in that instant, Hermione realised that Viktor was who she needed at that moment in her life, but Ron would always be who she wanted. She tried to decipher her thoughts more, but Dumbledore's voice interrupted.
"And on the count of three, the next thing you will experience will be breaking the surface of the Black Lake. Three, two, on-"
It hit her like a thousand knives stabbing her all over her body. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't think. At least, not about anything but the pain. Hermione looked around, frantic, and came face to face with a shark.
She screamed and bobbed under the water. More knives stabbed her. She couldn't breathe.
But then the shark lifted her up.
With its hands.
Hermione was dying. She was sure of it. She was dying, and hallucinating that a great white shark with arms and legs was screaming at her to calm down.
In a thick Bulgarian accent.
Hermione stopped thrashing about and tried to calm down enough to make sense of what was happening.
There, before her eyes, the shark morphed into the very concerned face of Viktor Krum.
Was Viktor dead as well? Did they both die in the lake? Where was Ron? Was Ron okay?
"Ron! Ron!" Hermione screamed, spinning around, trying to ignore the pain of the water. "Where's Ron!? Harry?!"
"Herm-own-ninny!" Viktor screamed in her ear. "You must calm down! Svim vith me now here to edge. Ignore cold. Just swim."
Something in his voice made her listen, and Hermione paddled toward the shore. She was much less coordinated than Viktor, who eventually put one arm around her and pulled her to shore (probably three times faster than Hermione could have done by herself).
By the time they crawled back onto land, Hermione was much more coherent, though still colder than she had ever been. Cedric and Cho were already there, being fussed over by a very angry Madam Pomfrey. Fleur was also on the bank, but Hermione didn't see Gabrielle anywhere. Thick blankets were thrown on Hermione by someone she couldn't see and she sank from their weight. Viktor sat beside her, trying to warm her with his body heat.
"Are you all right?" Viktor asked, his voice full of concern.
"Yes, thank you," she said. "You saved me! Thank you!"
"Of course!"
"You transfigured into a shark?"
"Yes, though it did not work as I had planned."
"Brilliant, though!" Hermione said, shivering. "Did you see what Harry did?"
"I saw him, but do not know vat he did."
"Is he ok? Do you know?"
"I am sorry, I do not. I had to get you to surface."
Hermione's mind flashed back to their conversation in Dumbledore's office and his promise that no one would be harmed. Ron and Harry were fine - just taking longer than Viktor did. She looked out into the middle of a lake where a large clock was stationed. From the looks of it, the hour time limit was well over.
Viktor looked her in the eye, bringing her back to the present. "Herm-own-ninny, I realise now how much you mean to me. Will you please come to my homeland? Meet my parents? I haff never felt this vay about any other girl."
Hermione had no idea how to respond to his earnest request. Luckily, she didn't have to answer immediately because bubbles appeared in the lake's middle, drawing everyone's attention. With a dramatic splash, Harry, Ron, and Gabrielle surfaced. The crowd in the stands (that Hermione had only just noticed) started screaming and cheering.
With Gabrielle between them, Ron and Harry started swimming to the shore. Fleur started screaming and was being held by Madame Maxime. "Gabrielle! Gabrielle! Is she alive? Is she 'urt?"
"She's fine," Harry said in a hoarse voice.
Then chaos seemed to descend.
To Hermione's left, a group of twenty or so Merpeople were waiting to talk with the judges.
Percy Weasley appeared out of nowhere, seizing Ron from the water and dragging him to the bank. Ron was shouting, "Gerroff, Percy! I'm all right!"
Dumbledore and Bagman were pulling Harry out of the water.
Fleur had broken free of Madam Maxime and was hugging her sister. "It was ze Grindylows! Zey attacked me! Oh, Gabrielle! I thought - I thought - "
Then Madam Pomfrey was pouring a hot potion down her throat.
Harry sank down next to her and Viktor, and Madam Pomfrey poured the potion down his throat. Viktor refused it.
"Harry, well done!" Hermione cried. She was so proud of him. She was also very happy to have a distraction from answering Viktor. "You did it. You found out how, all by yourself!"
"Well –" said Harry, glancing over to Karkaroff like he wanted to say something but couldn't. "Yeah, that's right," said Harry, raising his voice slightly so that Karkaroff could hear him.
"You haff a water-beetle in your hair, Herm-own-ninny," said Krum.
She knew he was trying to get her back to the conversation they were having before Ron and Harry surfaced, but Hermione knew she couldn't give him the answer he wanted… and she needed time to figure out how to tell him that without breaking his heart. Now was not the time. Hermione brushed the beetle away and ignored Viktor. "You're well outside the time limit, though, Harry. Did it take you ages to find us?"
"No, I found you okay."
Hermione frowned and was just about to ask him what he meant. They then noticed Dumbledore crouching at the water's edge, deep in conversation with what seemed to be the chief merperson, a particularly wild- and ferocious-looking female. He was making the same screechy noises that the merpeople made when they were above water; clearly, Dumbledore could speak Mermish. Finally, he straightened up, turned to his fellow judges and said, "A conference before we give the marks, I think."
The judges went into a huddle. Madam Pomfrey had gone to rescue Ron from Percy's clutches; she led him over to Harry and the others, gave him a blanket and some Pepper-Up Potion, and then went to fetch Fleur and her sister. Fleur had many cuts on her face and arms, and her robes were torn, but she didn't seem to care, nor would she allow Madam Pomfrey to clean them.
"Look after Gabrielle," she told her, and then she turned to Harry. "You saved 'er," she said breathlessly. "Even though she was not your 'ostage."
"Yeah," said Harry, furthering Hermione's confusion.
Fleur bent down, kissed Harry twice on each cheek, then said to Ron, "And you, too – you 'elped –"
"Yeah," said Ron, looking extremely hopeful, "yeah, a bit –"
Fleur swooped down on him, too, and kissed him. Hermione looked simply furious, but just then, Ludo Bagman's magically magnified voice boomed out beside them, making them all jump, and causing the crowd in the stands to go very quiet.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision. Mer-chieftainess Murcus has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake, and we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions, as follows:
"Miss Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, was attacked by Grindylows as she approached her goal and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points."
Applause from the stands.
"I deserved zero," said Fleur throatily, shaking her head.
"Mr Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was first to return with his hostage, though he returned one minute outside the time limit of an hour." Enormous cheers from the Hufflepuffs in the crowd. "We, therefore, award him forty-seven points."
"Mr Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and was second to return with his hostage. We award him forty points."
Karkaroff clapped particularly hard, looking very superior. Hermione turned around and gave Viktor a huge smile, though she could see he was still hurt by her lack of an answer.
"Mr Harry Potter used Gillyweed to great effect," Bagman continued. (Gillyweed! How did she not think of that!) "He returned last and well outside the time limit of an hour. However, the Merchieftainess informs us that Mr Potter was first to reach the hostages and that the delay in his return was due to his determination to return all hostages to safety, not merely his own."
Ron and Hermione both gave Harry half-exasperated, half-commiserating looks.
"Most of the judges" – and here, Bagman gave Karkaroff a very nasty look – "feel that this shows moral fibre and merits full marks. However ... Mr Potter's score is forty-five points."
"There you go, Harry!" Ron shouted over the noise. "You weren't being thick after all – you were showing moral fibre!"
Fleur was clapping very hard, too, but Viktor didn't look very happy. Hermione knew he wanted to talk, but she couldn't. Not then. She needed to get her wits about her. Instead, she just continued to clap along with the crowd and pretend everything was fine. She was playing dumb for the first time in her life.
"The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty-fourth of June,' continued Bagman. 'The champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions."